Mika was about to tell him no when... In Mika's brain, the microcrystalline replicating structures hardened, causing a wave of pain that almost sent her to her knees. "Ungh!" was all she could say as she lurched forward. Twin spikes of pain transfixed her behind each eye and she grabbed at the closest thing to her for support. She grasped Spencer's upper arms just as a new connection was made in the structure. They were running through a woodland, laughing, Spencer was just ahead of her in the trees always obscured by leaves that snapped back after his passage, they were children and she couldn't catch him, couldn't see him... ...Spencer standing in a grey room, his face a blank as a door opened and shut and opened and shut between them...then doors shutting in rapid succession, mirrors showing nothing but her own face... Mika clutched Spencer's arms hard enough to bruise as her eyes turned acid green with intensity, fixed on his through the smoky glasses as though the shades weren't even there. The pain intensified and she said one thing to him in her rasping voice before passing out. "Why are you hiding?" She went limp her hands slipping from his arms. After a moment her vacant eyes drifted shut and she began to breathe again.
Eve could barely see through the blood. Her eye was getting tried from the strain it was enduring working alone. Her empty eye socket was dry and throbbing with a pain that could only be described as nauseating. The Doc wasn’t stitching well and Eve was panicking about the fact she couldn’t put more blood into him. It was becoming possible that she was wasting her time with him. She patted the wound down and pulled the thread of the stitch through then weaved the needle into his flesh once more.
Spencer reached out to her, and he saw something change suddenly in her face. Her eyes snapped, and she gripped his arm tightly. Very tightly. And then she looked directly at him. Right into his eyes as if he wasn't even wearing the glasses. Her eyes almost seemed to glow green, and in them he saw something he had never seen in any other being before. Something completely alien to him. Something beyond explanation. "Why are you hiding?" She went limp, and as she fell, he caught her. Her tormented eyes drifted shut, and he lowered her gently to the floor. "Help me..." He whispered...his voice barely audible. "SOMEBODY GET THE F*** OVER HERE!" He screamed.
"SOMEBODY GET THE F*** OVER HERE!" Eve heard a man scream she’d just finished bandaging what was left of the docs ankles. Eve threw her hands up and swore under her breath before hurrying over to the man called Spencer. Mika lay on the floor her face drained of blood. “Right what‘s bleeding, burnt or busted?” Eve asked dropping the docs medical bag on the floor.
"Nothing." Spencer said, grabbing the bag. He withdrew a the small light and with his left hand lifted one of Mika's eyelids gently. He shone the light into her eye. It no longer glowed green, but as he moved the light around the light would seem to catch something beyond the color of her eye, and it would flash. "My god." Spencer dropped the light. She was still breathing. He put a hand to her neck and felt her pulse. It was racing. "I...I don't know what happened. She wanted to see the doc. She grabbed me and looked at me..." He fell back slightly. "She looked at me..."
Sadie slid onto the floor of the carriage, breathing heavily. Her forehead was sheened with sweat and numerous cuts over her body glistened with thin lines of red blood. She wasn’t badly hurt, but her body felt like one giant bruise. After Gask had knocked her to the floor at the first blast, the fight was a blur. She had kicked, punched and shot as much as possible, diving to the floor and behind seats to avoid getting killed, just kept fighting until the Reavers were gone. Looking round down, apart from Mika lying on the floor, she couldn’t see anyone gravely injured – though she was confused as to why the Doc wasn’t seeing to Mika. With a grimace, she pulled herself up and half-walked, half-stumbled over to where Spencer and Eve were knelt over Mika. “She okay? Where’s the Doc? Anyone else get hurt?” the questions spilled out of her before she could arrange her thoughts.
Helena staggered behind the bar for cover and used her handgun to keep the reavers away as she bandaged her thigh where the Reaver blade had pierced her. She had to pull the blade out herself as the Reavers grip had released when the knife entered her leg. She set the knife aside. She hoped noone would get close enough for her to need to use it, but unlike the handgun, the knife wouldn't run out of ammo. Her thigh was bleeding heavily, she hope that he hadn't gotten the femoral artery. She crawled behind the bar seeking shelter and something to bandage her wounded leg. She took a few bar towels and made a makeshift bandage. Her head was spinning. She wasn't sure if it was bloodloss, a concussion from the blow to the face (two confussions so close together would not be good), or panic. She decided it was all three and forced herself to calm down and focus on the battle, but she continued to get whuzzy, fading in and out. Finally, she became aware that the noises of battle had stopped. She forced herself to crawl out from behind the bar, over the corpses of the Reavers she had shot, and out to the team. They seemed to be in bad shape. Some of them in really bad shape. She crawled her way over to them, pushing the dizziness aside. "Anyone need help?" she asked as she pulled herself over to what remained of the team.
Blood dripped from my face mixed with Reavers and my own. I held my BFR from the barrel with the covered in the brains of not so smart Reavers. My left arm was limp from a few deep cuts as I staggered across the train car next to Sadie. "Guess you ain't gonna get that gun just yet huh," I remarked as I knelt down next to her. My eyes slowly opened and shut trying hard to stay conscious. I put my BFR in the holster on my ankle and grabbed my left arm. "So uh, where is the doc, I think I might have a few booboos," I say chuckling a bit almost passing out on to Sadie.
“Woah, careful there.” Sadie reached out an arm to steady David. His face was pale and his eyes kept flickering shut like he was about to pass out. She realised he was holding his left arm out, and, looking closer, she saw blood pooling out of several deep gashes below the elbow. “That looks pretty bad,” she commented worriedly, glancing up at Eve. The Orlock girl seemed concerned about their comrades, but there was also a look on her face that made Sadie frown. It was a look that suggested she was trying to pretend that she knew was she was doing. Slowly, Sadie’s eyes travelled to the open bag of medical supplies next to Eve and then back up to the other woman. “Eve. What happened to the Doc?”
"Nahhh, This is just a few small booboos," I said chuckling softly this time. I fell to both my knees now slumping a bit and breathing slowly trying to stay as conscious as possible. "So Sadie, We never talked about if I saved your life. What do I get," I asked turning my head to her with another pretty boy smile on my face. The pain was bearable but I needed to stop the blood lost. Damn these Reavers I swear. Wait till I get back into my truck with my Jackhammer I will show them what is up. Those rat bastards.
Arthur was relaxed momentarily by the quiet. Simple equation: no noise means no fighting. It was the wisest thing Artie could ever think up. He looked Chris who slept peacefully. His sleep was a little too peaceful. He checked his friend's vitals and did not like the results. He checked the breath to discover nothing was coming out. He was still freezing cold. He had heard of hypothermia, but Roughnecks moved swiftly on the road, so an actual case of it hadn't materialized in quite some time. A time before Artie was able to work. "Mothaf*ckin' Chris!!! Don't you die on me!!!" he screamed at his friend. The only thing he could think of is CPR. "Ewww, gay." he said out loud, hoping he was outside of earshot. He pinched Chris' nose, getting ready to administer the life-saving technique, but something just blocked him from doing it. He shook his head at the thought of touching lips with Chris and threw up a little. Even though it was for a friend, he figured Chris wouldn't do it in his case. At least, he hoped Chris wouldn't do that. Then, using some crazy logic, he decided he'd get a female to help out.
"Why are you hiding?" The words burned onto his mind. It was exactly what he had been thinking only hours ago. What had happened to her that gave her such intuition? The words had pierced his mind and soul like the blade he wielded. Why are you hiding? He asked the question himself again. And however much he tried to avoid it, he knew the answer; if he hid himself, he couldn't get hurt. Nobody would find him, or even want to find him. And in that loneliness was security. He let out a breath as he recovered himself. Again he checked her pulse. Still fast, but slowing. "Okay. Who's hurt? Where's the Doc?"
Arthur flew into the main car of the train, where everyone was assessing damages. He saw Eve, Sadie and David in one section of the train. Perfect. He approached them, taking a split second to catch his breath and let it out. "Ladies, I got a situation here. Chris stopped breathing, and he's badly in need of CPR. I would do it myself, but I'm a guy. So come on, let's save a life."
"Ladies, I got a situation here. Chris stopped breathing, and he's badly in need of CPR. I would do it myself, but I'm a guy. So come on, let's save a life." Spencer immediately went after Artie. "Dammit, Art, this is a life we're talking about here." He followed him to where Chris lay. Spencer dropped to a knee and checked briefly for the breath he knew wasn't there. He plugged his nose with a hand and put two breaths into him. He then pumped his chest, counting thirty times. He then repeated the process again. Eventually, Chris began to sputter and cough and gasp for air. Spencer held his head, making sure his airway stayed open.
Chris woke in terrible pain, the skin on his nose, neck and hands felt as if they were on fire, no doubt cold weather injuries from prolonged exposure to the elements. He fought to breathe, sucking in too much of it, he realized he was choking on air. He tried to calm himself and steady his breathing. Blinking, to clear his tear-distorted vision, he saw Spencer was knelt over him with a hand underneath his head. Chris was having trouble figuring out what was going on. His mind was a fog. He desperately fought the urge to close his eyes. "What's happening? Where are we?" he paused as the memories came rushing back to him. "Where's Art?... Where's Eve?"
"Where's Art?... Where's Eve?" Hearing his name, he immediately rushed to the truck to greet his fellow Roughneck. Relieved to see him in good health, he grinned at Chris. "Wassup, bro? Glad to see you come out of it. How you feeling?"
Eve tried to lay very still the pain from her missing eye and cut leg was almost to much to bare. She’d catch her breath and exhale slowly controlling her breathing, it would stop the event of an attack of hyperventilation. Her thinking was murky, half formed thoughts would rise within her then vanish and leave her trying to remember what she was thinking. She murmured something incoherent then sat upright a look of shock in her eyes. “Chris!” she stood up and looked around the carriage she couldn’t see him anywhere. Had she left him outside had she let him die?
"Wassup, bro? Glad to see you come out of it. How you feeling?" Chris began to shiver, closing the coat tighter, he coughed into his shoulder, he still needed some time to get his breathing right, but at least the sesnsation of drowsiness was beginning to subside. "I feel great." He lied. "No more gunfire. I take it the battle's over? How long was i out for? Are you alright? Is Eve alright?"
"No more gunfire. I take it the battle's over? How long was i out for? Are you alright? Is Eve alright?" He smiled at Chris' reaction and leaned over to the truck to speak to him. "Yeah, buddy... the battle's over. You weren't out for that long, but you gave us a scare. I thought I was gonna have to give you mouth to mouth." he shook his head at the thought. "Everybody seems to be alive, except for Alec." His head went down. Alec helped get Artie in the right mind-state from the beginning. He paused for a brief moment of silence. Then his head slowly rose back and looked around. "Where's Mika? Is she alright?" What made him think of her? Or was it he was already thinking of her and just now made it known? Either way, he was concerned for her. He hoped that whatever he said in his drunken state didn't hurt her feelings.
Mika’s eyes sprang open in a moment of total silence. Where was she? The ceiling above her had jagged holes in it, grey sky racing by above them. A freezing breeze blew all around and then sound came back like a thunderclap. "So Sadie, We never talked about if I saved your life. What do I get," A voice was saying. And feeling. The hunger was still here, faint, but here. The hatred dim but moving at the same pace as she was. Reaver hunger. Reaver hatred. She turned her head quickly and saw a group of her comrades, sitting on the floor, bloodied, an aura of pain surrounding them. Her headache seemed to have gone. Mika sat up. Saw the carnage once again. She turned to Sadie, David, and Helena. “How long was I out? Who needs help?” She felt unaccountably guilty for having passed out.
“Chris,” her voice sounded muffled and faint to her. The pain had become worse, the raging agony in her eye socket spreading to her skull. Her temples throbbed, Eve blinked back the pain and shuddered at the feel of her eye lid trying to slide over the empty socket. She could do nothing but crouch on the ground and hold her head as the pain progressed consume her. She would have called for her, but it wasn’t one of her strong points. The lack of attention had created a somewhat macho stance in her mind. That she was strong and that was why no one ever brothered to ask her if she was okay in her childhood. The truth was they had hoped she’d die.
Mika heard another voice behind her, calling out for Chris. Who was Chris? She had to think about that for a second. Oh yes, Chris was the one she’d mentally dubbed ‘handsome’. Turning, Mika knew she would see Eve. She did. The woman was lying on the train car floor, blood from her leg pooling together with the slick Reaver blood from the fight. Her blonde hair fanned out around her face, rippling over the mashed down fabric of her parka hood. Mika crawled closer and saw what had been done to the woman’s eye. She felt her gorge rise and then the other eye turned to her, glassy from a possible concussion. The woman radiated fear and pain but also a tough resolve. She shouldn’t even be conscious. And everywhere there was that dim Reaver hunger/Reaver hatred. Mika looked slowly all around, where was it coming from? “I’ll help you,” Mika told Eve, “Hang tight.” She scrambled toward her, taking the shotgun and laying it down in arm’s reach. Her eyes went to the other group as she opened the nearby doctor’s bag. “Where are the others? Spencer? Artie? Chris? Where the hell is the doctor?” she asked intensely. She didn’t give them a chance to answer before she found a gauze packed in sterile solution. She ripped it open and laid it gently over Eve’s eye, careful not to touch. She could only imagine how painful that must be. “Lie still,” she told the woman with a tight smile, “I’m going to clean and stitch your leg and it’s going to hurt like a b*****.” She moved down and ripped open Eve’s pant leg enough to get to the slice. When she placed her fingers on the lips of the wound to see how deep it might be the Reaver hunger/Reaver hatred hit her like a hammer to the brain. The woman’s back was to her but she knew this as a younger Eve. The dog hadn’t even been dead when it happened. There was blood everywhere and she saw Eve lick it from her fingers… …visions of Eve drinking the mouse’s blood interspersed with Eve and Chris, her teeth inches from his throat… When the visions stopped Mika realized that Eve was looking at her with one wide blue eye her mouth open in shock. The stitching things were scattered. Mika was standing holding the shotgun directly on Eve, ready to blow her head off, finger tightening on the trigger. Eve’s hands twitched, raised in submission. Mika was breathing hard as her gravel voice ground out one evil word. "Reaver."
"Everybody seems to be alive, except for Alec." Spencer's eyes snapped up. "What?" Artie just looked at him incredulously, as if he should have known. He probably should have. He sighed and stood. "S***." He said quietly. The best man they had was gone. The one person Spencer knew he could rely on; who he could trust with his life. And he realized now that Alec had been his only friend. The maze of events and images and thoughts weighed heavily on Spencer's mind as he drifted away from Artie and Chris. He walked in just in time to see Mika over Eve's bloody and beaten form. He heard one word from her. "Reaver..." In two steps he crossed the distance between them. His hand shot out and grabbed hold of the shotgun. He didn't pry it from her grasp, but leveled it away from Eve. "I think not." He said solidly.
Mika didn't look at him but kept her eyes on Eve. She didn't try to fight Spencer. "She IS, I felt it. Ask her." She indicated Eve with a curt nod.
COLOR="DarkSlateBlue"]“Reaver.,” Mika said.[/COLOR] Eve shuddered at the word. She was to weak to lift her head. So she kept it hung staring at the floor of the carriage. She was shuddering, her body jerked with sobs. “Go on then,” she lifted her head to look at the barrel. The black circle, the train, Mika everything had become so intimidating to her. “Kill the Reaver,” she snarled between clenched teeth. “I‘m part human too,” she screamed. “I‘d hurt myself before I‘d hurt you.” Eve was trembling she’d never even ventured to speak to Mika so how’d she know. Had Chris told her? She felt a surge in her a want to hurt Mika, it dulled away with the pain and guilt swan within her until she turned away and vomited. Was Mika going to tell? No, she wanted more then that the gun said enough. Eve slowly staggered to her feet grasping the barrel of the gun. “Go on then.”
